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Abstract Although physiological measurements, subjective evaluation and other methods have been applied to visual attention research, architects still lack a systematic quantitative classification method when assessing the visual attention to built colonial heritage. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between people’s visual behaviour and subjective evaluation when observing built colonial heritage and to construct a prediction model based on eye-movement metrics and subjective evaluation indicators to distinguish the visual attention to built colonial heritage. This study recorded data from 54 participants while observing five scenes of built colonial heritage, and the results showed that participants had different visual behaviours and subjective evaluations when viewing built colonial heritage in different scenes. And visual attention to built colonial heritage was negatively correlated with the average saccades peak velocity and average saccades amplitude and positively correlated with the average pupil diameter; visual attention was correlated with 12 subjective evaluation indicators. The eye-movement metrics and subjective evaluation indicators with correlation to visual attention were used as input variables to construct a prediction model of visual attention to built colonial heritage based on the BP neural network. Different built colonial heritage’s low, middle and high visual attention were identified with high accuracy (74.46%). This quantitative method can help architects to measure the visual attention to built colonial heritage to develop conservation and renewal strategies.

Perovskite solar cells with an inverted architecture provide a key pathway for commercializing this emerging photovoltaic technology because of the better power conversion efficiency and operational stability compared with the normal device structure. Specifically, power conversion efficiencies of the inverted perovskite solar cells have exceeded 25% owing to the development of improved self-assembled molecules1–5 and passivation strategies6–8. However, poor wettability and agglomeration of self-assembled molecules9–12 cause interfacial losses, impeding further improvement in the power conversion efficiency and stability. Here we report a molecular hybrid at the buried interface in inverted perovskite solar cells that co-assembled the popular self-assembled molecule [4-(3,6-dimethyl-9H-carbazol-9-yl)butyl]phosphonic acid (Me-4PACz) with the multiple aromatic carboxylic acid 4,4′,4″-nitrilotribenzoic acid (NA) to improve the heterojunction interface. The molecular hybrid of Me-4PACz with NA could substantially improve the interfacial characteristics. The resulting inverted perovskite solar cells demonstrated a record certified steady-state efficiency of 26.54%. Crucially, this strategy aligns seamlessly with large-scale manufacturing, achieving one of the highest certified power conversion efficiencies for inverted mini-modules at 22.74% (aperture area 11.1 cm2). Our device also maintained 96.1% of its initial power conversion efficiency after more than 2,400 h of 1-sun operation in ambient air.High efficiency in perovskite solar cells is achieved by using a molecular hybrid of a self-assembled monolayer with nitrilotribenzoic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oxidative stress-induced retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell damage is a major factor in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Vitamin D3 (VD3) is a powerful antioxidant and it has been suggested to have anti-aging properties and potential for treating AMD. This study aimed to investigate the effect of VD3 on RPE cell oxidative apoptosis of RPE cells in order to provide experimental evidence for the treatment of AMD. Methods: Human retinal pigment epithelial cell 19 (ARPE-19) cells were divided into four groups: blank group (untreated), model group (incubated in medium with 400 μmol/L H2O2 for 1 h), VD3 group (incubated in medium with 100 μmol/L VD3 for 24 h), and treatment group (incubated in medium with 400 μmol/L H2O2 for 1 h and 100 μmol/L VD3 for 24 h). Cell viability, cell senescence, ROS content, expression levels of vitamin D specific receptors, Akt, Sirt1, NAMPT, and JNK mRNA expression levels, SOD activity, and MDA, GSH, and GPX levels were measured. Results: We first established an ARPE-19 cell stress model with H2O2. Our control experiment showed that VD3 treatment had no significant effect on ARPE-19 cell viability within 6–48 h. Treating the stressed ARPE-19 cells with VD3 showed mixed results; caspase-3 expression was decreased, Bcl-2 expression was increased, MDA level of ARPE-19 cells was decreased, GSH-PX, GPX and SOD levels were increased, the relative mRNA expression levels of Akt, Sirt1, NAMPT were increased (P < 0.05), and the relative mRNA expression level of JNK was decreased (P < 0.05). Conclusion: VD3 can potentially slow the development of AMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Here, we sought to develop a PET radioligand based on trastuzumab labeled with 124I, 124I-trastuzumab, to evaluate its distribution, internal dosimetry, and initial PET images of HER2-positive lesions in gastric cancer (GC) patients. Methods: In animal studies, micro-PET imaging and bio-distribution were performed to examine the specificity of 124I-trastuzumab in HER2-positive and HER2-negative mouse models. Subsequently, 124I-trastuzumab was applied in human clinic trial. Six gastric cancer patients with metastases underwent 124I-trastuzumab PET imaging, with 18F-FDG PET/CT in each to compare. Results: In animal studies, PET imaging of 124I-trastuzumab showed significant higher tumor uptake than that of 124I-IgG1 in HER2-positive PDX mouse models at 24 h. The low tumor uptake of 124I-trastuzumab in HER2-negative PDX models further confirmed the specificity. In human clinical studies, 18 HER2-positive lesions and 11 HER2-negative lesions were evaluated in PET imaging analysis. The detection sensitivity of 124I-trastuzumab was 100% (18/18) at 24 h. The PET images showed significant difference in tumor uptake between HER2-positive and HER2-negative lesions at 24 h (SUVmax 7.83 ± 0.55 vs. 1.75 ± 0.29, p < 0.0001). Quite striking difference in tumor uptake was observed between 124I-trastuzumab and 18F-FDG (SUVmax 1.75 ± 0.29 vs. 6.46 ± 0.44, p < 0.0001) in HER2-negative lesions, further confirming the specific binding of 124I-trastuzumab in HER2-positive lesions. The radiation-absorbed dose was calculated to be 0.3011 ± 0.005 mSv/MBq. No toxicities or adverse effects were observed in any of the patients. Conclusion: The findings described here demonstrated that 124I-trastuzumab was feasible to detect HER2-positive lesions in primary and metastatic gastric cancer patients and to differentiate HER2-positive and HER2-negative lesions quantitatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a typical Case-2 coastal water environment (here, the Pearl River Estuary (PRE), China), chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and suspended particulates dominate the water optical properties, and CDOM fluorescence contributes considerably to surface water reflectance. In this paper, an ultraviolet (UV) to visible scheme to retrieve CDOM absorption (ag)is developed based on a set of in situ observations. First, the CDOM UV absorption and spectral slope (Sg) are derived directly from the visible remote sensing reflectance; then the Sg is extrapolated to obtain the spectrum from UV to visible spectral range. This algorithm performs well, with an overall mean absolute percent difference (MAPD) of ∼30%, ∼5% and ∼6% for the estimation of ag in 250–450 nm, Sg over 250–400 nm, and 250–700 nm, respectively. The effectiveness and stability of the algorithm is further demonstrated in capturing the distribution pattern of CDOM absorption in the PRE from satellite ocean color imagery with multiple spatial and spectral resolution, namely: the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) (750 m/Multispectral), the Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI) (300 m/Multispectral), the Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) (100 m/Hyperspectral), and the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) (30 m/Multispectral). The UV to visible scheme can benefit the CDOM absorption estimation in two aspects: 1) it is free from the disturbance of suspended matter; 2) it avoids uncertainties caused by the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of ag measurements in the visible range. The algorithm is effective in revealing multiple scales of variation of CDOM absorption from ocean color observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyroptosis, a new pro-inflammatory programmed cell death, is linked to atherosclerosis (AS). Our previous studies suggested that salidroside (SAL) can alleviate AS and exert anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. However, the effect of SAL on atherosclerosis-related pyroptosis has not been studied. Here, we investigated the effect of SAL on pyroptosis to explain the underlying mechanisms of SAL on atherosclerosis-related inflammation. We established an atherosclerosis mouse model via western diet (HFD) to explore the protective effect of SAL. According to our results, administration of SAL for 12 weeks markedly reduced the atherosclerotic plaque in aorta. Meanwhile, SAL also alleviated the pyroptosis, as evidenced by inhibiting caspase-1 activation, interleukin-1β (IL-1β) release, and TUNEL-positive staining, and decreasing the expression of Gasdermin D (GSDMD). Furthermore, SAL also decreased the activation of caspase-1 and inhibited the release of IL-1β induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVECs). Our data indicate that SAL inhibit NLRP3-related pyroptosis, which might be the underlying mechanism of SAL anti-inflammatory in atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a scheme for error-detected generation of an N-photon cluster state with a quantum dot (QD) embedded in a single-sided optical microcavity (QD-cavity system). The basic structure of this scheme is an error-detected controlled-phase (C-phase) gate on the hybrid electron-photon system. In this scheme, the fidelity of N-photon cluster state generation can be reached unity even if low-Q cavity and cavity leakage are considered. By using error detecting, the generation of an N-photon cluster state can be performed by repeating until success, which also leads to a high success probability, compared with other schemes assisted by the QD-cavity system. The error-detected generation of an N-photon cluster state in the highly controllable way may benefit on the quantum network in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) is widely used in modern communications which attempts to predict the best available rate and select the most suitable modulation and coding scheme (MCS) by estimating the real-time channel quality to obtain higher throughput of communication system. However, due to the characteristics of wireless channel fading, there are a lot of uncertainties in the communication process, which makes deviation between the channel estimate and the true value and can affect performance of AMC system. Bayesian network is an important tool to research uncertainty. This paper considers learning with the multi-entities bayesian network (MEBN) as a new framework for adaptive modulation and coding which avoids the flaw of flexibility in traditional Bayesian network (BN). Simulation results show that our algorithm has more validity in the selection MCS and lower bit error rate (BER) by considering estimate deviation in MEBN-AMC system. We also provide the further simulation results by using Bayesian structure learning and parameter learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to develop an information acquisition system and apply to smart city, the information acquisition system using four-meter centralized reading is designed. At present, all provinces and municipalities in the country are vigorously promoting the construction of household electricity, water, gas and heat, and remote meter reading technology of electricity, water, gas and heat is also becoming more mature. In particular, the electricity information acquisition system pioneered by the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) has already realized the full coverage of the remote meter reading network of residents, and laid the foundation for the integrated acquisition of electricity, water, gas and heat by family. However, from the present point of view, the management of electricity, water, gas and heat is self-organized. Though there are many similarities in the problem of meter reading, due to the reasons of industry management, resource sharing cannot be formed. The basic structure of the current electric information acquisition system, the remote and local communication technology, and the benefit produced by the meter are introduced. A technical scheme for collecting four kinds of meter meters by using the existing power information collection network is put forward. The use of four-meter centralized reading shows that the technical plan about four-meter centralized reading is in line with the direction and requirements of sharing and building the resource-saving society. Compared with the other system, it is in the leading position. In conclusion, this new smart technology has achieved certain effect in the practical application and the application prospect is very wide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we build the simulation system for the N-continuous (NC) precoded spatial modulation orthogonal frequency division multiplex (SM-OFDM) system with imperfect channel estimation exploiting MATLAB software. Additionally, we evaluate the optimal power allocation between pilot and data symbols in the system by minimizing the derived theoretical bit error rate (BER) upper bound operating with imperfect channel estimation when employs a pilot design approach which protects the pilot symbols from interference introduced by NC precoder. This is motivated by the fact that since the signals are subjected to the interference introduced by the precoding at each subcarrier in the considered system, the NC precoded SM-OFDM system can't exploit the exiting optimal power allocation for SM-OFDM system straightly. Numerical simulations show that our pilot design approach outperform the existing pilot design approach,and employing the optimal power allocation achieves a significant gain on BER performance in the NC precoded SM-OFDM system compared to employing the equal power allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of tourism, it not only brings great economic benefits, but also causes some problems. Overcrowded visitors reduce tourists satisfaction and bring about negative impact on ecological environment. Designing a reasonable tourists initial shunt scheme can help the management of the scenic area to achieve the goal that balances the economic development and environment protection. In this paper, for the sake of alleviating congestion in scenic area, a tourists optimal shunt scheme is proposed. Instead of defining single optimal objective, the proposed scheme taking two objectives into account, which are minimizing the total load balance degree of the scenic spots and one spot’s load degree. In order to estimate optimal shunt ratios, a multi-objective optimization based on genetic algorithm is used to find the Pareto solution. Then a simulation model is built to investigate and verify the scheme. Finally, a comparison analysis validates the efficiency of the model in mitigating the load of the scenic spots in Jiuzhai Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of polymers with on-demand sequence structures is very important not only for academic researchers but also for industry. However, despite the existing polymerization techniques, it is still difficult to achieve copolymer chains with on-demand sequence structures. Here we report a dually switchable and controlled interconvertible polymerization system; in this system, two distinct orthogonal polymerizations can be selectively switched ON/OFF independent of each other and they can be interconverted promptly and quantitatively according to external stimuli. Thus, the external stimuli can manipulate the insertion of distinct monomers into the resulting copolymer chains temporally, spatially, and orthogonally, allowing the on-demand precise arrangement of sequence structures in the resulting polymers. This dually switchable and interconvertible polymerization system provides a powerful tool for synthesizing materials that are not accessible by other polymerization methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing number of immunocompromised hosts, the epidemiological characteristics of fungal infections have undergone enormous changes worldwide, including in China. In this paper, we reviewed the existing data on mycosis across China to summarize available epidemiological profiles. We found that the general incidence of superficial fungal infections in China has been stable, but the incidence of tinea capitis has decreased and the transmission route has changed. By contrast, the overall incidence of invasive fungal infections has continued to rise. The occurrence of candidemia caused by Candida species other than C. albicans and including some uncommon Candida species has increased recently in China. Infections caused by Aspergillus have also propagated in recent years, particularly with the emergence of azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus. An increasing trend of cryptococcosis has been noted in China, with Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii ST 5 genotype isolates as the predominant pathogen. Retrospective studies have suggested that the epidemiological characteristics of Pneumocystis pneumonia in China may be similar to those in other developing countries. Endemic fungal infections, such as sporotrichosis in Northeastern China, must arouse research, diagnostic, and treatment vigilance. Currently, the epidemiological data on mycosis in China are variable and fragmentary. Thus, a nationwide epidemiological research on fungal infections in China is an important need for improving the country's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let G = ( V,E) be a graph with m edges. For reals p ∈ [0, 1] and q = 1− p, let m ( G) be the minimum of qe( V ) + pe( V ) over partitions V = V ∪ V , where e( V ) denotes the number of edges spanned by V . We show that if m ( G) = pqm− δ, then there exists a bipartition V , V of G such that $$e{V_1} \leqslant {p^2}m - \delta + p\sqrt {m/2} + o\left( {\sqrt m } \right)$$ and $$e{V_2} \leqslant {q^2}m - \delta + q\sqrt {m/2} + o\left( {\sqrt m } \right)$$ for δ = o(m). This is sharp for complete graphs up to the error term $$o\left( {\sqrt m } \right)$$ . For an integer k ≥ 2, let f ( G) denote the maximum number of edges in a k-partite subgraph of G. We prove that if f ( G) = (1 − 1/ k)m + α, then G admits a k-partition such that each vertex class spans at most m/k − Ω( m/k ) edges for α = Ω( m/k ). Both of the above improve the results of Bollobás and Scott. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors describe an electrochemiluminescence (ECL) assay for the determination of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in soil. It is based on the finding that graphene quantum dots (GQDs) strongly enhance the ECL of CdSe quantum dots (CdSe QDs), and ECL is strongly quenched by TNT. In order to assemble the GQDs and CdSe QDs, the latter were functionalized with carboxy groups and then coupled to amino-functionalized GQDs (afGQDs). The resulting CdSe-GQDs conjugation was placed as a thin film on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The modified electrode displays an about 8-fold enhanced ECL intensity compared to an GCE with CdSe QDs only, and the onset potential of the ECL reaction is positively shifted by 140 mV. In the presence of TNT, the ECL is quenched due to the formation of the TNT-amine complex. The decrease in ECL intensity is related to the logarithm of the TNT concentration in the range from 0.01 to 100 ppb, with a detection limit as low as 3 ppt. The results of TNT assays in (spiked) soil samples showed recoveries between 99.2 and 105.0 % and relative standard deviations between 3.0 and 8.2 %. This strategy offers a new perspective for developing ECL assays based on the use of semiconductor nanoparticles and graphene-based nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and healing-promoting effect of topical photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) on chronic skin ulcers infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). A total of 26 patients with chronic skin ulcers in lower limbs infected with PA were enrolled. The surface areas of the ulcers were treated with either δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-mediated PDT (20 % ALA solution, 1.5 h incubation, 630 nm red light, 80 J/cm) or red light alone, both once a week for two weeks. Before treatment, the wound areas and the bacteria levels in these two groups were comparable ( p > 0.05). Results indicated that the bacteria levels in the skin ulcers of the light only group of 24 h post-treatment (3.4 × 10 ± 7.1 × 10 CFU/cm) and pre-treatment (5.5 × 10 ± 1.6 × 10 CFU/cm) were not significantly different. In contrast, the bacteria levels on the surfaces of the ulcers in the PDT group of 24 h post-treatment (6.3 × 10 ± 1.7 × 10 CFU/cm) and pre-treatment (8.9 × 10 ± 1.7 × 10 CFU/cm) were significantly different ( p < 0.01). At seven days post treatment, the mean ulcer area in the red light group was reduced from 11.85 ± 6.83 to 7.8 ± 4.9 cm ( p < 0.01), that of PDT group from 12.72 ± 8.58 to 3.4 ± 3.4 cm ( p < 0.01). Better healing was seen in PDT group ( p < 0.01). In conclusion, ALA-PDT is a potential modality to control PA infection and promote healing of chronic skin ulcers in lower limbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No definitive therapy exists to treat human metastatic tumors. We reported previously that down-regulation of Lin-7C is essential for metastasis of human squamous cell carcinomas (hSCCs). In this study, we investigated the chemical restoration of Lin-7C expression and demonstrated its effectiveness for suppressing the metastatic potential in human cancer cells. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) identified candidate chemical agents, i.e., apomorphine, caffeine, risperidone, quetiapine, and mirtazapine. Among them, mirtazapine, an antagonist of HTR2C, an upstream molecule of Lin-7C, caused substantial up-regulation of the Lin-7C/β-catenin pathway in a metastatic hSCC cell line and human melanoma-derived cell line in vitro, and up-regulation did not contribute to cellular proliferation. Moreover, the antimetastatic effect of mirtazapine in these metastatic cell lines in vivo also was evident in multiple organs of immunodeficient mice with no marked side effects. The current data offer novel information for further study of antimetastatic activity in association with enhanced Lin-7C/β-catenin pathway activation with mirtazapine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over-expression of the proto-oncogene pleomorphic adenoma gene 1 (PLAG1) plays a crucial role in the formation of pleomorphic adenoma, which is the most common type of salivary gland tumor. To understand the molecular mechanisms governing PLAG1-mediated tumorigenesis, we used a microarray-based approach to identify PLAG1 target genes. We validated the expression of several genes, including Bax, Fas, p53, p21, p16, Cyclin D1, Egfr, Trail-R/DR5, c-Fos, c-myc and Igf2, by real-time RT-PCR or western blotting. Using luciferase reporter gene assays, we determined that the promoters of Bax, Fas, p53, TRAIL-R/DR5, and c-Fos were transactivated by PLAG1. PLAG1 not only activates genes that promote cell proliferation and tumor formation but also genes that inhibit these cellular processes. Therefore, we conclude that PLAG1 may play a dual role in tumor formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To utilize white space spectrum in radio environment, transform domain communication system (TDCS) has been proposed to realize an overlay cognitive radio communication system by using spectrum bin nulling and frequency domain spreading. Being similar to OFDM systems, TDCSs still suffer from the problem of high peak to average power ratio (PAPR) in present of high power amplifier. In this paper, a distortionless PAPR reduction method is proposed for TDCS, namely clipping and phase replacement (CPR). Following this method, the clipping noise-dirty phase vector is replaced by an appropriate replacement, which is selected from the identical phase mapping space to avoid systematic performance degradation. Owing to the high computational complexity from exhaust search, an efficient implementation of CPR method is proposed through the iterative PAPR reduction and phase replacement. Moreover, some considerations for practical applications, such as imperfect spectrum sensing and the number of phase taps, are considered. Analytic and simulation results demonstrate that the distortionless CPR PAPR reduction method is a preferable candidate for TDCSs in both the single-user and multi-user scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wiener filter is the best channel interpolation method in terms of minimizing mean square error at the time dimension. However, Wiener filter with low order will lose its efficiency in high-speed communication environments, while Wiener filter with high order suffers from the problem of high computational complexity. In this paper, we analyze the relationships among Wiener filter with different orders and their corresponding application scenarios. Furthermore, based on the analysis, a pilot symbol design criterion for high-speed communication environments and a simplified Wiener filter based channel estimation technique are proposed, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-performance phosphorescent white organic light-emitting devices (PhWOLEDs) with color stability and low efficiency decay are demonstrated by inserting wide band-gap materials between emitting layers. The two devices with N,N′-dicarbazolyl-3,5-benzene (mCP) and p-bis(triphenylsilyl)benzene (UGH2) as the interlayer exhibit both slight Commission Internationale del'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates variations of (± 0.010, ± 0.005) and (± 0.013, ± 0.006) in a wide voltage range, and low decay in current efficiency which shifts from the peak value 35.4 cd·A and 27.4 cd·A to 28.8 cd·A and 23.5 cd·A at 40000 cd·m, respectively. The improvements are attributed to the charge carriers balance and the elimination of energy transfer loss by confining the carrier accumulation at the exciton formation interface through the interlayer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study introduces an easy method of preparing xyloglucan hydrogel from xyloglucan, which is purified from tamarind seed gum. Xyloglucan hydrogel was prepared in 2 wt% solution by treating with β-galactosidase. Physical and chemical properties (molecular mass, size and viscosity) of xyloglucan hydrogel and xyloglucan solution were tested for a comparison. Experiments of drug release in vitro and in vivo were operated to investigate the potentialities of xyloglucan hydrogel as the biomedical sustained-release carriers for drug delivery system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a multi-effective molecule, playing important roles in organ growth, tumorigenesis and trauma healing. This experiment aims at studying the promoting function of HGF on the proliferation of human eccrine sweat gland epithelial cells (hESGc) and its relative signal channels. After HGF at different concentrations were added into cells, MTT was adopted to detect the cell proliferations, Annexin-V/PI the cell apoptosis, and Westernblot the expressions of p-AKT, AKT, p-ERK, p-GSK3β, p-IKBα, and β-catenin in hESGc. After adding siRNA c-Met to block HGF or LY294002 to inhibit p-AKT, we used MTT to detect the proliferation of hESGc and Westernblot to detect the expression of β-catenin. As a result, 20-40 ng/mL HGF could promote the proliferation of hESGc and inhibit its apoptosis. HGF could promote the expressions of p-AKT1/2/3, p-ERK, p-GSK3β, p-IKBα, and β-catenin. The additions of siRNA c-Met to block HGF or LY294002 to inhibit p-AKT could downregulate β-catenin and inhibit the proliferation promotion caused by HGF. Consequently, we concluded HGF can promote the proliferation of human eccrine sweat gland epithelial cells, which is relative to AKT signal channel and β-catenin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new hierarchical learning structure, namely the holistic triple learning (HTL), for extending the binary support vector machine (SVM) to multi-classification problems. For an N-class problem, a HTL constructs a decision tree up to a depth of $$\lceil N/3\rceil+1$$. A leaf node of the decision tree is allowed to be placed with a holistic triple learning unit whose generalisation abilities are assessed and approved. Meanwhile, the remaining nodes in the decision tree each accommodate a standard binary SVM classifier. The holistic triple classifier is a regression model trained on three classes, whose training algorithm is originated from a recently proposed implementation technique, namely the least-squares support vector machine (LS-SVM). A major novelty with the holistic triple classifier is the reduced number of support vectors in the solution. For the resultant HTL-SVM, an upper bound of the generalisation error can be obtained. The time complexity of training the HTL-SVM is analysed, and is shown to be comparable to that of training the one-versus-one (1-vs.-1) SVM, particularly on small-scale datasets. Empirical studies show that the proposed HTL-SVM achieves competitive classification accuracy with a reduced number of support vectors compared to the popular 1-vs-1 alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, a total of 154 bacterial strains isolated from nodules of eighteen Vicia species mainly grown in the temperate Chinese provinces were characterized by ARDRA, ITS PCR–RFLP, BOX-PCR, sequencing of 16S rDNA, nodC, nifH, atpD and glnII, and nodulation tests. The results demonstrated that most of the R. leguminosarum strains were effective microsymbionts of the wild Vicia species, while genomic species related to Rhizobium gallicum, Mesorhizobium huakuii, Ensifer meliloti and Bradyrhizobium spp. were symbiotic bacteria occasionally nodulating with Vicia species. In addition, fourteen strains related to Agrobacterium, Phyllobacterium, Ensifer, Shinella and R. tropici, as well as 22 strains of R. leguminosarum might be nodule endophytes without symbiotic genes. Diverse symbiotic gene lineages were found among the test strains and a strong association was found among the symbiotic gene types and genomic species, indicating the absence of lateral gene transfer. These results greatly enlarged the rhizobial spectrum of Vicia species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of estimating the carrier frequency offsets in Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems with distributed transmit antennas is addressed. It is supposed that the transmit antennas are distributed while the receive antennas are still centralized, and the general case where both the time delays and the frequency offsets are possibly different for each transmit antenna is considered. The channel is supposed to be frequency flat, and the macroscopic fading is also taken into consideration. A carrier frequency offset estimator based on Maximum Likelihood (ML) is proposed, which can separately estimate the frequency offset for each transmit antenna and exploit the spatial diversity. The Cramer-Rao Bound (CRB) for synchronous MIMO ( i.e., the time delays for each transmit antenna are all equal) is also derived. Simulation results are given to illustrate the performance of the estimator and compare it with the CRB. It is shown that the estimator can provide satisfactory frequency offset estimates and its performance is close to the CRB for the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) below 20dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  In this paper, we introduce a new method, support vector regression (SVR) method, to model millimeter wave transitions. SVR is based on the structural risk minimization (SRM) principle, which leads to good generalization ability for regression problem. The SVR model can be electromagnetically developed with a set of training data and testing data which produced by the electromagnetic simulation. Two Ka-band millimeter wave transitions, i.e., waveguide to microstrip transition and coaxial to waveguide adapter, are used as examples to validate the method. Experimental results show that the developed SVR models have a good predictive ability, and they are useful for interactive CAD of millimeter wave transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generation of transgenic mice by DNA microinjection has become one of the most important technologies in studying gene function in vivo. Random integration of transgene often results in insertional mutation which may complicate phenotype analysis of transgenic mice and/or create a good opportunity to study the function of endogenous gene. However, the utilization of these potentially valuable resources is hampered due to lack of efficient approaches for rapid identification of multi-copy transgene integration sites. Here we propose two PCR-based approaches to identifying transgene/genome junction sequences. The efficiency of these two strategies was tested in 9 independent transgenic mouse lines. Among them, the transgene in 8 mouse lines was clearly localized to certain chromosome regions. These rapid and efficient approaches will greatly facilitate the study of insertional mutation due to transgene integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LiMn2O4−xFx prepared by the sol-gel method has a perfect crystal formation. The crystal particle size of the material was medium and distributed uniformly. The substitution of F for O increased the specific capacity of the material at the cost of the cycleability. The explanation of this results is that the F decreases the valence of Mn, that is, more Mn3+ and less Mn4+ exist in the material. The increase of Mn3+ will improve the initial specific capacity and Mn3+ is the original reason for Jahn-Teller effect that caused the poor cycleability of the cathode material by the micro-distortion of the crystal structure. In addition, the expanded measurement of the crystal lattice is also the reason for the poor cycleability. Therefore, the results of F-substitution and cation-substitution are opposite. If the two methods are combined, they can compensate the inability each other and the satisfactory results may be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the dynamic tensile behavior of the Zr[sub 41.2]Ti[sub 13.8]Cu[sub 12.5]Ni[sub 10]Be[sub 22.5] bulk metallic glass. Preparation of the alloy ingots by arc melting pure metals in a purified argon atmosphere; X-ray diffraction pattern of the cast cylindrical Zr[sub 41.2]Ti[sub 13.8]Cu[sub 12.5]Ni[sub 10]Be[sub 22.5] rod; Dynamic fracture surface and dynamic tensile stress-strain curves of the bulk metallic glass; Evidence that the tensile strength and the fracture morphology of the alloy strongly depend on the strain rate.

The poor prognosis of gastric adenocarcinoma is partly due to chemotherapy failure, especially the oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy. However, the specific mechanism of oxaliplatin resistance is unclear. We aim to find the roles that LINC00641 and miR-582-5p play in regulating oxaliplatin resistance. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR was used to evaluate the expression of LINC00641 and microRNA-582-5p (miR-582-5p) in gastric cancer both in vivo and in vitro. Transwell and CCK-8 assays were performed; and LC3 I/II and p62 were detected by western blot to evaluate the activation of autophagy. LINC00641 expression was associated with prognosis and oxaliplatin resistance in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. The expression of LINC00641 was higher in gastric cancer tissues; whereas miR-582-5p was down-regulated in gastric cancer tissues. Moreover, LINC00641 was highly expressed in oxaliplatin-resistant cell lines and miR-582-5p was down-regulated. In addition, LINC00641 negatively regulated the expression of miR-582-5p. With regard to biological functions, down-regulation of LINC00641 suppressed cell migration and proliferation. Further experiments indicated that down-regulation of LINC00641 inhibited the autophagy process, making gastric cancer cells more sensitive to oxaliplatin. LINC00641 and miR-582-5p are biomarkers for predicting overall survival, as they were involved in regulating oxaliplatin resistance by altering autophagy in gastric adenocarcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs have been reported to play a crucial role in ovarian cancer (OC) as the most lethal malignancy of the women. Here, we found miR-506-3p was significantly down-regulated in OC tissues compared with corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues. Ectopic miR-506-3p expression inhibited OC cell growth and proliferation using MTT and colony formation assay. Additionally, flow cytometry analysis showed that the overexpression of miR-506-3p induced cell cycle G0/G1 phase arrest and cell apoptosis in OC cells. A luciferase reporter assay confirmed that the myotubularin-related protein 6 (MTMR6) was the target of miR-506-3p. The expression of MTMR6 was increased in OC tissues compared with adjacent tissues using immunohistochemistry. Elevated MTMR6 protein levels were confirmed in OC cells lines compared with immortalized fallopian tube epithelial cell line FTE187 using western blotting. In addition, knockdown of MTMR6 imitated the effects of miR-506-3p on cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis in OC cells. Furthermore, rescue experiments using MTMR6 overexpression further verified that MTMR6 was a functional target of miR-506-3p. Our data indicate that miR-506-3p might serve as a tumor suppressor gene and propose a new regulatory mechanism of MTMR6 by miR-506-3p in OC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a self-assisted complete analysis scheme of three-photon hyperentangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in microcavities (NV center-cavity systems), which is used to distinguish 64 three-photon hyperentangled GHZ states entangled in polarization and spatial-mode degrees of freedom. In our scheme, only three NV center-cavity systems are required for distinguishing the 64 three-photon hyperentangled GHZ states, which is much simpler than the previous schemes. Moreover, the three-photon spatial-mode GHZ states are distinguished with the three NV center-cavity systems without affecting the hyperentangled state of three-photon system, so the three-photon polarization GHZ states can be distinguished with linear optical elements assisted by the spatial-mode entangled state of three-photon system. With our scheme, the difficulty in the experimental realization of complete analysis of hyperentangled GHZ states may be largely decreased, which could potentially improve the performance of high-capacity multi-party quantum communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunotherapy exhibited potential effects for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, unfortunately, the clinical benefits are often countered by cancer adaptive immune suppressive response. Uncovering the mechanism how cancer cells evade immune surveillance would help to develop new immunotherapy approaches and combination therapy. In this article, by analyzing the transcriptional factors which modulate the differentially expressed genes between T cell infiltration high group and low group, we identified oncoprotein B cell lymphoma 6 (BCL6) suppresses the infiltration and activation of tumor infiltrating T lymphocytes, thus correlated with poorer clinical outcome. By using antibody deletion experiment, we further demonstrated that CD4 + T cells but not CD8 + T cells are the main lymphocyte population suppressed by Bcl6 to promote HCC development. Mechanistically, BCL6 decreases cancer cell expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and T lymphocyte chemokines such as IL6, IL1F6, and CCL5. Moreover, BCL6 upregulates Endothelial cell-specific molecule 1 (ESM1) to inhibit T lymphocyte recruitment and activation possibly through ICAM-1/LFA-1 signaling pathway. Our findings uncovered an unappreciated paracrine mechanism how cancer cell-derived BCL6 assists cancer cell immune evasion, and highlighted the role of CD4 + T cells in HCC immune surveillance., (© 2024. The Author(s).)